This disclosure relates to a manually releasable heel holder for safety ski bindings, which heel holder comprises a housing, a sole holder, a connecting arm movably connected to the housing and the soleholder, and a manually actuable releasing member for releasing the connecting arm from a locking position to an unlocking position, allowing the sole holder to open under the influence of a spring. Preferably, a heel holder according to this disclosure further comprises at least one stop means for returning the connecting arm to the locking position when the heel holder attains its open position from its closed position or vice versa.
A heel holder according to this disclosure is an improvement over known heel holders in that it can be deliberately released to its open position in a simple manner and it is movable to, and will remain in, its closed position regardless of whether it engages a ski boot. These advantages are achieved with a resulting heel holder that is both smaller and more lightweight than most existing heel holders.
Many conventional ski bindings have the disadvantage that the sole holder remains in an open position unless engaged with a ski boot. This is undesirable because, among other reasons, the binding may be unprotected during transportion from possible damage by external sources. For instance, salt water may be splashed into the binding while it is transported on the roof of a car. Additionally, conventional ski bags will often not accommodate open bindings. A binding according to this disclosure, however, may be closed by hand for transportation and storage, and may be easily reopened when necessary.
Heel holders according to this disclosure have the additional advantage that the soleholder automatically opens when the ski boot is released from the ski by the toe unit. This eliminates the need to manipulate the heel holder when the skier desires to step into the binding after a release in response to a twisting fall. To achieve this latter improvement, a heel holder according to this disclosure preferably further comprises an interim means for releasing the connecting arm from a locking to an unlocking position when the housing is moved toward the forward end of the ski under spring influence after release of the ski boot at the toe unit. On release from the locking to the unlocking position, the sole holder rotates from its closed to its open position.
Additional features of a heel holder according to this disclosure are apparent.